Day 40

We started with the sightseeing left over from yesterday which for me was worth the wait.  First we visited the underground irrigation system started over a thousand years ago to collect the rain and snow melt water from the hills several km to the north, channel it through underground passages and bring it back to the surface in the town for drinking, washing, crop irrugation etc.

The system is in use today and still supplies 30% of the modern town.

Next we visited the ancient town of Jaicho, again over 1000 years old, built on a strip of land at the convergence of two rivers.  The daytime temperature around here regularly exceeds 40C so the town was carved into the soft sandstone leaving the rock covering the buildings.  Much of the town has weathered away over the years, but you can still make out individual rooms and some of their features.

Our third site to visit was disappointing as there wasn't really anything to see.  It was a rather superficial explanation of the grape growing and raison drying in the area set in a bit of a theme park. The only upside was the street vendors selling dried fruit and particularly the dried tomatoes.

At 2pm we set off on our 420km drive on roads not quite as good as earlier in China, arriving in Hami at 9pm. At around 3pm we crossed the 90 degree east longitude line.

Tracy has confirmed that we will have an extra day to complete the tour at no cost to us (apart from an extra night's accommodation).

Lat 42 49.52 N
Long 93 31.44 E
Distance 12201km
Town Hami

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